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Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck is one of the main protagonists of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien and in the film trilogy of the same name. He was a member of the fellowship of the Ring, cousin and best friend to Peregrin Took and the younger cousin of Frodo Baggins. He was voiced by Simon Chandler in the Ralph Bakshi animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings and was portrayed by Dominic Monaghan in the Peter Jackson film trilogy. Appearances ''The Lord of the Rings'' Part I, The Fellowship of the Ring In The Lord of the Rings, Merry is often considered and was described by Tolkien as, the most perceptive and intelligent of the hobbits. Even before Bilbo Baggins left the Shire, he knew of the One Ring and its power of invisibility. He guarded Bag End after Bilbo's party, protecting Frodo from the various and often unwanted guests. He is knowledgeable and has an innocent, teasing sense of humour. In one incident, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins accused Frodo of being a Brandybuck and no true Baggins. Merry assured Frodo, "It was a compliment; and so, of course, not true". Merry was also a force behind "the Conspiracy" of Sam, Pippin, Fredegar Bolger and himself to help Frodo. Thus, at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, Merry was well-prepared and organized — he assembled their packs and brought ponies. His shortcut through the Old Forest distanced them from the Nazgûl for a time, though they had to be rescued from Old Man Willow by the enigmatic Tom Bombadil. In the Barrow-downs, he acquired his sword, which was actually a dagger forged in the kingdom of Arnor. At Bree, Merry was actually not present in the Prancing Pony when Frodo put on the Ring; instead, he was outside taking a walk and was nearly overcome by a Nazgûl. At Rivendell, he was seen studying maps and plotting their path. He was admitted to the Fellowship only a little less reluctantly than Pippin; they were the two youngest members, and Elrond had planned on sending them back to the Shire. At the entrance to Moria, he asked Gandalf the meaning of the door inscription "Speak, friend, and enter". When Gandalf discovered the true interpretation, he said, "Merry, of all people, was on the right track". Part II, The Two Towers At Amon Hen, he was captured, along with Pippin, by a band of Saruman's Uruk-hai, although he gave a good account of himself and was valiantly defended by Boromir. Escaping with Pippin into Fangorn forest, Merry was rescued by Treebeard. Along with Pippin, he drank significant amounts of Ent-draught and grew taller, despite being a fully grown adult Hobbit. Accompanying Treebeard to the Entmoot and later to Isengard, he and Pippin took up residence in an Isengard gate-house. It was here that he first encountered King Théoden of Rohan, and was reunited with four of the remaining members of the Fellowship. Merry was separated from Pippin after his friend beheld Sauron in the palantír and was then hastily taken to Gondor with Gandalf on Shadowfax. Part III, The Return of the King Merry swore fealty to Théoden and became esquire to the king. Against Théoden's orders, he rode to Gondor with Éowyn, who was disguised as a common soldier named Dernhelm. In the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, while the Witch-king of Angmar was preoccupied with Éowyn, Merry stabbed him in the sinew behind his knee with a sword that was made by the Dúnedain of Arnor for combat against the Nazgûl. The Black Captain stumbled from Merry's stroke, and Éowyn seized the moment to strike the Captain's head, destroying him. This fulfilled the prophecy, as he was not killed "by the hand of man," but rather by a hobbit and a woman. Merry heard Théoden's last words, but went unnoticed by the honour escort of Riders; Pippin found him wandering in the city. Aragorn healed him and he recovered fully, more quickly than Éowyn. For his bravery in battle, Merry was knighted by King Éomer as a Knight of the Mark. During the scouring of the Shire, he led the hobbits in the Battle of Bywater and personally killed the leader of the opposing forces. Later years Upon his return, he and Pippin were clearly seen to be the tallest of hobbits, taller even than the legendary Bullroarer Took (as Sam said at the Field of Cormallen, Merry was three inches taller than he ought to have been). Merry went on to marry Estella Bolger sometime after the end of the Third Age. He inherited the title Master of Buckland in year 11 of the Fourth Age. He retained his links with Rohan and became an expert in Rohan's language and traditions, which he discovered, to his surprise, to have close affinity to the early history of the hobbits, and was best known in the Shire for composing Herblore of the Shire, Reckoning of Years, and Old Words and Names in the Shire. Although he is not recorded as having any children within the family trees, he is noted as having at least one son. In F.A. 64, at the age of 102, Merry returned to Rohan and Gondor with Pippin; the two hobbits died in Gondor several years later. They were laid to rest among the Kings of Gondor in Rath Dínen, then moved to lie next to Aragorn after he died in F.A. 120. Trivia *Merry was originally named Drogo Took in the story before it was the name of Frodo's father. He was later re-named Vigo then changed to Marmaduke, and finally to his current name. 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